4:57 p.m.— A former investigator for the DeKalb District Attorney's Office will be the first witness when court resumes Monday in the corruption trial for suspended county CEO Burrell Ellis.
Clay Nix had explained to jurors how the investigation of Ellis began and then he showed them how secretly recorded conversations and the detailed notes Ellis kept form the basis for the investigation.
Nix told jurors that investigators knew they had to find a way to back up what the star prosecution witness said because he had already lied at least once to a special purpose grand jury investigating the county’s Department of Watershed Management.
Nix testified that investigators confronted Kelvin Walton a week after his first appeared before the grand jury on May 2, 2012.
Nix said they “notified him that we were in possession of information that he had not been truthful. We told him to think about his actions. He could possibly be charged with a crime. We were going to offer him the opportunity to work with our office.”
4:05 p.m. — The judge presiding over the corruption trial of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis was annoyed with defense attorneys for asking questions she has already ruled off bounds.
“You seem to be under the impression you can ask what you want and disregard orders,” Judge Courtney Johnson said. “We’ve had three instances of that already today.”
The hand-spanking came as defense attorneys and prosecutors were arguing, with the jury out of the room, whether an upcoming witness can be asked about wire taps.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Timmons, of the DeKalb DA’s public integrity unit, argued that such questions could get into other investigations of county officials, and extend the Ellis trial by several weeks.
None of the lawyers offered any information about the other investigations.
2:18 p.m. — Prosecutors called a series of lower-level county employees to describe how disruptive it was for them to put aside their work for the county to generate detailed vendor lists for now-suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis to use in 2012 campaign fund raising.
All three women testified that putting together the lists was a priority and they had to put aside work they were doing in the Department of Purchasing and Contracts to gather information and make calls to ensure the names and phone numbers were current and correct.
“The list was the priority,” testified former DeKalb County employee Natascha Crenshaw. “We could not do anything until the list was prepared…. It was THE priority. You don’t go home until the list is created.”
Sometimes she would have to sort through 500 to 700 pages to find names, phone numbers and email addresses for contacts at companies that had contracts with DeKalb.
1:22 p.m. —The first witness called Friday afternoon in the corruption trial of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis was asked to explain for the jury how much staff time it took for county workers to put together frequents lists of vendors to be used to solicit campaign contributions.
Alita Bowman, who was the administrative assistant to star prosecution witness Kelvin Walton, said she and her staff had to stop whatever they were doing for their county jobs to pull together lists that Ellis used to solicit contributions to his 2012 re-election campaign. She said it didn’t matter what county work they were doing at the time an updated list was demanded.
Bowman testified that it was common for them to be given short notice.
She said Walton related that Ellis was upset when some lists had bad information on it. Walton would stress the importance of preparing accurate lists — with vendor names and contact information and the amount of the contract they had — quickly because he would be at the target of anger and irritation from his boss, Ellis.
11:56 a.m. — The prosecution's star witness in the corruption case of suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis is done with testifying. At least for now.
After a few follow up questions, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Lawanda Hodges said she had asked all she needed to ask of Kelvin Walton, who is on paid leave as the county’s chief purchasing and contracts officer.
Hodges briefly revisited some of the secretly-recorded discussions Walton had with Ellis after Walton agreed to help prosecutors so he could avoid possible criminal charges himself.
Walton said, one more time on Friday, he provided Ellis with frequent up-to-date lists of vendors with county contracts because it was required of him. He testified earlier that he helped Ellis because he was afraid of losing his job before he was fully vested with DeKalb’s pension program.
11:43 a.m. — One of the attorneys for suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis ended his cross-examination of the prosecution's star witness, turning him over to the assistant district attorney.
Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Lawanda Hodges had follow up questions for Kelvin Walton, who is on paid leave from his job as the county’s chief purchasing officer.
She asked him to confirm how often he generated vendor lists for Ellis to use in trying to raise money for his 2012 re-election.
11:03 a.m. — The judge overseeing the trial of DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis repeatedly ruled against his lawyers and told them to stop holding up the trial with losing arguments.
“We keep having to dismiss this jury to address issues I’ve already ruled on. This is unacceptable,” Judge Courtney Johnson told Craig Gillen, who is Ellis’ lead defense attorney.
Johnson said Gillen was trying to ask questions about whether Ellis was entrapped by the government’s key witness, DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton.
The jury was dismissed from the courtroom several times Friday morning while Johnson heard legal arguments, and she has ruled against Ellis each time.
10:18 a.m. — Judge Courtney Johnson has ruled against lawyers for DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis who wanted to ask about other contractors who weren't punished by Ellis after they declined to contribute.
“This is not appropriate at all for you to ask that question after I have been very clear,” Johnson told Craig Gillen, who is Ellis’ lead defense attorney.
Gillen pleaded with Johnson for him to be able to question DeKalb Procurement Director Kelvin Walton about “hundreds” of other contractors who didn’t contribute.
“The truth is exactly opposite of Mr. Walton’s self-serving narrative,” Gillen said.
9:50 a.m. — The lead attorney for DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis is reviewing audio recordings in which Ellis is upset about contractors not returning his phone calls — making the point that Ellis was concerned about responsiveness rather than political contributions.
“We’re just not going to have situations where people are non-responsive,” Ellis said on a recording played in court Friday. “They can not give. But they can’t not be returning phone calls, hanging up on me.”
The prosecution’s witness, DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, rejected the idea that vendors had an obligation to call Ellis back.
“They should call the CEO back if it’s about county business. Campaign contributions are not,” Walton testified. “They know it’s personal. … If they ignore them, that’s their business.”
9 a.m. — The feisty cross-examination of the prosecution's key witness was expected to continue Friday in the corruption trial of suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis.
The witness, DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, will be on the witness stand for a fourth day as he comes under attack from Ellis’ defense attorneys.
Walton wore a wire to gather recordings of Ellis and avoid prosecution himself for lying under oath. Ellis’ lawyers have attacked Walton’s credibility, saying he can’t be trusted.
Ellis is on trial to fight criminal charges that he shook down county contractors for political donations during his 2012 re-election campaign.
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